Welcome to the home of Noah Brier. I'm the co-founder of Variance and general internet tinkerer. Most of my writing these days is happening over at Why is this interesting?, a daily email full of interesting stuff. This site has been around since 2004. Feel free to get in touch. Good places to get started are my Framework of the Day posts or my favorite books and podcasts. Get in touch.

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Top 50 Albums of 2004

This is the moment everyone’s been waiting for, the proof that I really have no life. These are my 10 favorite albums of 2004, in order (roughly), with five word descriptions (or less) and an MP3 (mostly legal and only when I could find a link). (Also, for the MP3s, many are links to InSound and betterPropaganda.) I’m going to keep editing this list, and some rankings may change. Hope you enjoy it, I worked very hard. Any comments, questions, suggestions, let me know.

1 – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Shake the Streets

http://www.tedleo.com/

Rockin’ punk originally from Jersey

MP3: “MeAndMia”

2 – Moonbabies – Orange Billboard

http://www.moonbabies.nu/

Swedish, LIYL My Bloody Valentine

MP3: “Sun A.M.”

3 – Saturday Looks Good to Me – Every Night

http://www.saturdaylooksgoodtome.com/

50’s sounding rock from Detroit

MP3: “The Girl’s Distracted”

4 – The Mountain Goats – We Shall All Be Healed

http://www.themountaingoats.net/

One guy whining with guitar

MP3: “Palmcorder Yanja”

5 – Annie – Anniemal

http://www.anniemusic.co.uk/

Very poppy electro with vocals

6 – Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street

http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/

Erlend Oye’s better known project

MP3: “I’d Rather Dance With You” Live at Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, October 31, 2004

7 – Erlend Oye – DJ Kicks

http://www.erlendoye.com

An indie DJs DJ mix

8 – Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/

Scottish rock that everyone’s heard

9 – Joanna Newsome – The Milk-Eyed Mender

http://www.walnutwhales.com/

More quirky than Bjork?

MP3: “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie”

10 – The Arcade Fire – Funeral

http://www.arcadefire.com/

Canadian band hard to describe

MP3: “Wake Up”

11 – Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous

http://www.rilokiley.com/

This band does no wrong

MP3: “Portions for Foxes” Live at Good Records, Dallas, TX, October 23, 2004

12 – The Killers – Hot Fuss

http://www.thekillers.co.uk

More poppy than The Strokes?

MP3:

13 – Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days

http://www.ironandwine.com/

Guy and his guitar folk

MP3: “Naked As We Came”

14 – Annimal Collective- Sung Tongs

http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/ . . .

Beats the hell outta me

MP3: “Leaf House”

15 – Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans

http://www.sufjan.com/

Snowy folk with Christian overtones

MP3: “Sister”

16 – A.C. Newman – The Slow Wonder

http://www.acnewman.net/

Lead singer of New Pornographers

MP3: “Miracle Drug”

17 – Of Montreal – Satanic Panic in the Attic

http://www.ofmontreal.net

Acid was involved in recording

MP3: “Lysergic Bliss”

18 – The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free

http://www.the-streets.co.uk/

New breed of British hip-hop

MP3:

19 – Interpol – Antics

http://www.interpolny.com/

Just like their last album

MP3: “Slow Hands”

20 – Feist – Let it Die

http://www.listentofeist.com/

Every song is completely different

MP3: “Mushaboom”

21 – Phoenix – Alphabetical

http://www.wearephoenix.com/

French electro-pop band

MP3: “Everything is Everything”

22 – Joy Zipper – American Whip

http://www.joyzipper.tv

I really like electro-pop

23 – The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike

http://www.thegoteam.co.uk/

Left this description to last

MP3: “Power is On”

24 – Walkmen – Bows and Arrows

http://www.thewalkmen.com/

They appeared on The O.C.

MP3: “Little House Of Savages”

25 – Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters

http://www.scissorsisters.com/

Somewhere between Elton and Prince

26 – Maritime – Glass Floor

http://www.maritimesongs.com

Poppy guitar music nothing more

MP3: “Sleep Around”

27 – Ratatat – Ratatat

http://www.ratatatmusic.com/

Two guitars and a computer

MP3: “Seventeen Years”

28 – Madvillain – Madvillainy

http://www.stonesthrow.com/madvillain/

Madlib and MF Doom hip-hop

MP3: “Accordion”

29 – Mirah – C’mon Miracle

http://www.krecs.com/mirah/

Often beautiful female vocals

MP3: “Jerusalem”

29 – The Cardigans – Long Gone Before Midnight

http://cardigans.com/

I like female lead singers

30 – John Vanderslice – Cellar Door

http://www.johnvanderslice.com/

Intelligent rock with electronic hints

MP3: “Pale Horse”

31 – The Roots – The Tipping Point

http://www.theroots.com/

Another solid album

32 – Kanye West – The College Dropout

http://www.kanyewest.com/

Should this be ranked higher?

33 – Murs – Murs 316 The 9th Edition

http://www.definitivejux.net/jukies/murs/

Murs and 9th Wonder hip-hop

MP3: “3:16”

34 – Wagon Christ – Sorry I Make You Lush

http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/artist.php?id=35

Electronic music with some umph???

35 – Air – Talkie Walkie

http://www.intairnet.org/

Air make sweeping electronic music

36 – Wilco – A Ghost is Born

http://www.wilcoweb.com

How do you explain Wilco?

37 – The Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat

http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/

Not sure I get it

MP3: “Chris Michaels”

38 – Modest Mouse – Good News for People who Love Bad News

http://www.modestmousemusic.com/

They make poppy indie rock

39 – Magnetic Fields – I

http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/tmf.php

All songs start with “I”

40 – Prince – Musicology

http://www.npgonlineltd.com/

Prince does Prince again

41 – Death from Above 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine

http://www.deathfromabove1979.com/

These guys rock hard

MP3: “Romantic Rights”

41 – The Fever – Red Bedroom

http://www.thefeveronline.com/

Same realm as The Strokes

MP3: “Gray Ghost”

42 – The Bad Plus – Give

http://www.thebadplus.com/

Exciting jazz trio

43 – cLOUDEAD – Ten

http://www.dirtyloop.com/cLOUDDEAD.html

Hip-hop like you’ve never heard

MP3: “Rifle Eyes”

44 – Lambchop – Aw C’Mon/No, You C’mon

http://www.lambchop.net/

Two albums of southern goodness

MP3: “Something’s Going On”

45 – TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

http://www.tvontheradio.com/

Brooklynites experiment with sound

MP3: “Dreams”

46 – Zero 7 – When It Falls

http://www.zero7.co.uk/

More female vocals than Air

47 – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse

http://www.sonicyouth.com/

Grunge grandfathers make fuzzy music

48 – Mellow – Perfect Colors

http://www.mellow-workshop.com

The band’s name says it

49 – Lali Puna – Faking the Books

http://www.lalipuna.de

German glitch-pop

50 – Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands

http://www.younggodrecords.com/Artists/DevendraBanhart/

Mostly indescribable quirky folk music

MP3: “The Body Breaks”

January 4, 2005